Laois stars still unlit after eight years
The Starry Plough in Portarlington has remained unlit for eight years and cannot be seen at night
A LIGHT feature marking the centenary of 1916 is still unlit, more than eight years after it was erected in Portarlington.
The Starry Plough installed in 2016 remains in darkness, despite repeated appeals to have its seven stars illuminated.
The sculpture on the Kilnacourt roundabout cannot be seen at night unless the stars are lit, reflecting the famous Starry Plough flag raised by the Irish Citizen Army during the Easter rising.
The light feature was unveiled in May 2016 by Cathal McSwiney Brugha, grandson of patriot Cathal Brugha who was wounded in the Rising. Nearly nine years later, its stars still fail to shine and many locals don’t even know it’s there.
Independent Cllr Aidan Mullins highlighted the issue at a council meeting, when he said: “I don’t like to be bitching but it seems to me that it should be a simple issue to resolve. I have had motions in about this since 2016 and I cannot understand why it’s so difficult.”
Cllr Mullins proposed that Laois County Council ‘energise the lights on the Starry Plough on the Kilnacourt roundabout in Portarlington, which was installed as part of the 1916 Centenary Commemoration’. The proposal was seconded by Fianna Fáil’s cllr Paschal McEvoy, at the latest meeting of Graiguecullen-Portarlington Municipal District.
Cllr Mullins told the meeting: “There are seven stars on the old plough there and we have never been able to have the stars energised since. You cannot see it at night. I hope we will get a solution to it.”
In a written response, senior engineer, Paul McLoughlin said the county council would ‘revisit’ the request to provide the feature lighting, ‘having previously been unsuccessful with arriving at a suitable and cost-effective solution’.
The sculpture of the Starry Plough from the original flag, which was commissioned by the Portarlington 1916 Commemoration Committee, was created using a small 100-year-old plough donated by Jim Hyland from Lea. It was installed on a standard on the roundabout at the bottom of Station Road, where it was officially unveiled during the centenary celebrations by Cathal MacSwiney Brugha, grandson of both Terence MacSwiney and Cathal Brugha.
